Middle Ages

Political, Religious, Economic developments

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Timeline:

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Timeline:313: edict of Milan

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Timeline:313: edict of Milan325: Council of Nicaea

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Timeline:313: edict of Milan325: Council of Nicaea410: Rome sacked by Visigoths under Alaric

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Timeline:313: edict of Milan325: Council of Nicaea410: Rome sacked by Visigoths under Alaric354-430: St. Augustine

413-426: Augustine writes City of God

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Timeline:313: edict of Milan325: Council of Nicaea410: Rome sacked by Visigoths under Alaric354-430: St. Augustine

413-426: Augustine writes City of God451: Council of Chalcedon

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Timeline:451: Council of Chalcedon451-453: European invasion of Attila the Hun

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Timeline:451: Council of Chalcedon451-453: European invasion of Attila the Hun476: Odoacer deposes Romulus Augustulus;

rules as “king of the Romans” (fall of the West)

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Timeline:451: Council of Chalcedon451-453: European invasion of Attila the Hun476: Odoacer deposes Romulus Augustulus;

rules as “king of the Romans” (fall of the West)489-493: Theodoric establishes kingdom of

Ostrogoths in Italy

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Timeline:489-493: Theodoric establishes kingdom of

Ostrogoths in Italy529: St. Benedict founds monastery at Monte

Cassino

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Timeline:489-493: Theodoric establishes kingdom of

Ostrogoths in Italy529: St. Benedict founds monastery at Monte

Cassino533: Justinian codifies Roman law

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Timeline:489-493: Theodoric establishes kingdom of

Ostrogoths in Italy529: St. Benedict founds monastery at Monte

Cassino533: Justinian codifies Roman law532-537: building of Hagia Sophia

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Timeline:489-493: Theodoric establishes kingdom of

Ostrogoths in Italy529: St. Benedict founds monastery at Monte

Cassino533: Justinian codifies Roman law532-537: building of Hagia Sophia622: Muhammad’s flight from Mecca (Hegira)

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Timeline:622: Muhammad’s flight from Mecca (Hegira)732: Charles Martel defeats Muslims at Poitiers

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Timeline:622: Muhammad’s flight from Mecca (Hegira)732: Charles Martel defeats Muslims at Poitiers754: Pope Stephen ii and Pepin iii ally

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Timeline:622: Muhammad’s flight from Mecca (Hegira)732: Charles Martel defeats Muslims at Poitiers754: Pope Stephen ii and Pepin iii ally800: Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman

Emperor

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Timeline:622: Muhammad’s flight from Mecca (Hegira)732: Charles Martel defeats Muslims at Poitiers754: Pope Stephen ii and Pepin iii ally800: Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emperor843: Treaty of Verdun: the sons of Louis the Pious

(Charlemagne’s son): Charles the Bald, Lotharius, and Louis the German

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Timeline:843: Treaty of Verdun: the sons of Louis the

Pious (Charlemagne’s son): Charles the Bald, Lotharius, and Louis the German

Late 9th – 10th centuries: Vikings!

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Timeline:843: Treaty of Verdun: the sons of Louis the

Pious (Charlemagne’s son): Charles the Bald, Lotharius, and Louis the German

Late 9th – 10th centuries: Vikings!885: Cyril and Methodius bring Cyrillic alphabet

to Bulgaria

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Timeline:843: Treaty of Verdun: the sons of Louis the Pious

(Charlemagne’s son): Charles the Bald, Lotharius, and Louis the German

Late 9th – 10th centuries: Vikings!885: Cyril and Methodius bring Cyrillic alphabet to

Bulgaria962: Otto the Great crowned Holy Roman Emperor

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Timeline:843: Treaty of Verdun: the sons of Louis the Pious

(Charlemagne’s son): Charles the Bald, Lotharius, and Louis the German

Late 9th – 10th centuries: Vikings!885: Cyril and Methodius bring Cyrillic alphabet to

Bulgaria962: Otto the Great crowned Holy Roman Emperor1054: East / West divided by Great Schism

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Feudalism.As an economic system, it grew up as a response to

FRAGMENTATION and DECENTRALIZATION during the early middle ages.

It has ramifications for society, politics, military, and economics in the middle ages.

Feudal societies grow up where a Lord or Prince is dominant and where the highest virtues become TRUST and FIDELITY

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Highest virtues are TRUST and FIDELITY: why?

The two institutions of feudal society:

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Highest virtues are TRUST and FIDELITY: why?

The two institutions of feudal society:

VASSALAGE

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Highest virtues are TRUST and FIDELITY: why?

The two institutions of feudal society:

VASSALAGE

And

FIEF

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Highest virtues are TRUST and FIDELITY: why?

The two institutions of feudal society:

VASSALAGE: “fealty” to a lord

And

FIEF

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Highest virtues are TRUST and FIDELITY: why?

The two institutions of feudal society:

VASSALAGE: “fealty” to a lord

And

FIEF: goods with which the vassal can serve

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Highest virtues are TRUST and FIDELITY: why?

The two institutions of feudal society:

VASSALAGE: “fealty” to a lord• A promise to refrain from action that could jeopardize the

lord’s wellbeing

FIEF: goods with which the vassal can serve

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Highest virtues are TRUST and FIDELITY: why?The two institutions of feudal society:

VASSALAGE: “fealty” to a lord• A promise to refrain from action that could jeopardize the

lord’s wellbeing• Promise to perform personal services on request

FIEF: goods with which the vassal can serve

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Highest virtues are TRUST and FIDELITY: why?The two institutions of feudal society:

VASSALAGE: “fealty” to a lord• A promise to refrain from action that could jeopardize the

lord’s wellbeing• Promise to perform personal services on request• Promise to provide military aid on request

FIEF: goods with which the vassal can serve

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Highest virtues are TRUST and FIDELITY: why?The two institutions of feudal society:VASSALAGE: “fealty” to a lord• A promise to refrain from action that could

jeopardize the lord’s wellbeing• Promise to perform personal services on request• Promise to provide military aid on requestFIEF: goods with which the vassal can serve• Cash (liquid assets)

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Highest virtues are TRUST and FIDELITY: why?The two institutions of feudal society:VASSALAGE: “fealty” to a lord• A promise to refrain from action that could jeopardize the

lord’s wellbeing• Promise to perform personal services on request• Promise to provide military aid on requestFIEF: goods with which the vassal can serve• Cash (liquid assets)• Real property

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

Difficulty in maintaining peace in a feudal society: the payoff for loyalty versus the acquisition of wealth and property

At the local level feudalism creates a distinction between the MANOR and SERFDOM

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

The High Middle Ages: 1000-1300• Emerging national monarchies (France,

England, Germany)• Western church is centered on the Pope in

Rome• Church established as authority independent

of secular government (compare the time of Constantine!)

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

• Church established as authority independent of secular government (compare the time of Constantine!)

• The Investiture Struggle 11th-12th centuries– Begins with many centuries in the West in which

secular leaders would appoint (or sell) church offices of bishop or abbot to figures who would be faithful to the secular lord.

– Selling of offices is known as “simony”

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

• The Investiture Struggle 11th-12th centuries– Bishops and abbots were very often already part of the

secular government• Literate and literate resources• Already established families

– Gregorian reforms• Henry iv becomes boy king of Germany 1056• 1059 the College of Cardinals is created to elect and protect

Papacy• Pope Gregory vii elected 1073• Declares that the Pope alone can make or depose churchmen

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments

The Middle Ages:political, religious, and economic developments